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Superconductivity

Controlling the motion of quanta

Nature Materials volume 1, pages 143–144 (2002)Cite this article

Solid-state devices that mimic biological motors can be built using magnetic flux quanta, or vortices. A new proposal describes how to transfer energy between two interacting vortex systems in a superconductor without having to physically 'sculpt' the host material.

On page 179 of this issue, Savel'ev and Nori1 suggest several innovative ways to control the motion of quantized magnetic flux inside a high-temperature superconductor. This opens a new chapter in the fascinating story of devices inspired by molecular 'brownian motors'. Their groundbreaking idea is to apply a current or magnetic fieldthat is asymmetric in time, rather than space, in order to guide the motion of quantized magnetic flux inside layered superconductors. This remarkable proposal makes it possible to create asymmetric flux motion, which should inspire experimentalists to build a new generation of superconducting devices for controlling magnetic flux quanta. Most importantly, such control is achieved without having to resort to cumbersome electron-beam lithography or irradiation techniques, which were previously needed to pattern structural defects into the host material.

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Figure 1: Potential energy landscape felt by vortices in an artificially patterned superconductor10.
Figure 2: Magnetic flux inside a superconductor configured as a 'vortex lens', which is one of several devices proposed by Savel'ev and Nori1.

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  1. Institut de Physique de la Matière Complexe, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, CH-1015, Switzerland

    Gianfranco D'Anna

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  1. Gianfranco D'Anna
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D'Anna, G. Controlling the motion of quanta. Nature Mater 1, 143–144 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat751

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